Method and system for mass assembly of thin-film materials

ABSTRACT

A system includes a separation tool that separates a carrier wafer to form a plurality of chiplet carriers. The carrier wafer having sheets of thin film material attached. A sensor and processor of the system determine an orientation of the portions of the sheets of thin film material relative to the chiplets to determine a mapping therebetween. A fluid carrier of the system places the chiplet carriers on an assembly surface in a disordered pattern. The system includes a micro assembler that arranges the chiplet carriers from the disordered pattern to a predetermined pattern based on the mapping. A carrier of the system transfers the portions of the thin film material from the chiplet carriers to a target substrate.

RELATED PATENT DOCUMENTS

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/171,286, filed Feb. 9, 2021, which is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/235,251 filed on Dec. 28, 2018, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,926,521, issued Feb. 23, 2021, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure is directed to a method and system for mass assembly of thin film materials. In one embodiment, sheets of a thin film material are attached to a carrier wafer. The carrier wafer and the attached sheets of thin film material are separated to form chiplet carriers. Each chiplet carrier includes a portion of the sheets of thin film material attached to a portion of the carrier wafer. The chiplet carriers are placed on an assembly surface in a random pattern. The chiplet carriers are arranged from the random pattern to a predetermined pattern, and the portions of the thin film material are transferred from the chiplet carriers to a target substrate.

In another embodiment, attaching sheets of thin film material to a carrier wafer that is separable to form a plurality of chiplets. The sheets of thin film material are optically mapped in relation to chiplets. The optical mapping determines an orientation of the portions of the sheets of thin film material relative to the chiplets. The carrier wafer and the attached sheets of thin film material are separated to form chiplet carriers having the portions of the sheets of thin film material attached the respective chiplets. The chiplet carriers are placed on an assembly surface in a random pattern and arranged to a predetermined pattern based on the optical mapping. Portions of the thin film material are transferred from the chiplet carriers to a target substrate. These and other features and aspects of various embodiments may be understood in view of the following detailed discussion and accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The discussion below makes reference to the following figures, wherein the same reference number may be used to identify the similar/same component in multiple figures. The drawings are not necessarily to scale.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a method according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view showing thin film materials being characterized and separated according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of an assembly surface on which chiplet carriers are arranged and oriented according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of stacks of thin film material arranged on a target wafer according to an example embodiment;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are diagrams of thin film material assembly procedures according to example embodiments and

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a method according to another example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure relates to assembly of thin materials. Certain classes of materials, such as van der Waals materials (also referred to as 2-D materials), may formed as a sheet that can be as thin as one molecule in thickness. One well-known example of a van der Waals material is graphene, which is a single-molecule lattice of carbon atoms. Many van der Waals materials have uncommon properties (e.g., mechanical strength, low thermal and electrical resistance, etc.) and so there is interest in the development of devices that incorporate van der Waals materials. For purposes of this disclosure, the term ‘thin film material’ is used herein to describe any materials (including van der Waals materials) that are thin and delicate, such that the material is easily broken if conventional automated assembly processes are used. Such materials may have a thickness on the order of micrometers and sub-micrometers in some cases.

In order to mass-produce devices using thin film materials, automated systems are needed to, among other things, manufacture thin film material (e.g., via exfoliation or chemical layer deposition), divide the thin film material into individual units of the desired size, and move the units into a desired location and orientation, and then manipulate the units to form and assembly (e.g., stack thin film materials together and/or assemble with other components). Methods and apparatuses have been devised to separate the materials into individual units (referred to herein as ‘chiplets’) and move the chiplets into a desired location, e.g., a grid that allows the chiplets to be picked up for further processing.

The present disclosure relates to methods and apparatuses used to facilitate massive parallel assembly of thin film materials. In FIG. 1 , a flowchart outlines a chiplet assembly process according to an example embodiment. The van der Waal (2-D) materials are turned into 100 sheets, e.g., via mechanical or chemical exfoliation, chemical-vapor deposition, etc. The sheets are attached 101 to the top of a chiplet carrier wafer. The sheets may be of irregular sizes and shapes, and so are characterized and recorded 102 with the unique ID of each chiplet carrier that will be formed from the wafer. The chiplets will then be singulated 103 (e.g., divided into regular shapes) into individual chiplet carriers.

After singulation 103, the chiplet carriers are then dispersed 104 using a process compatible with thin film material and arranged into a pattern on an assembly surface. Examples dispersion processes are mechanical sonication or use of a solvent that does not damage the thin film material, and may be part of the singulation process 103. The chiplets carriers will be used as manipulation handler to arrange the thin film material to the desired pattern and orientations. The thin film material will then be transferred 105 to the final substrate via a stamping process, e.g., using a tacky transfer substrate that separates and picks up a large number of the thin film material portions from the chiplet carriers.

In FIG. 2 , an isometric view shows the assembly and characterization of sheets 202-205 of thin film material onto a carrier wafer 200 according to an example embodiment. The sheets 202-205, are placed on one surface of the carrier wafer 200, e.g., such that there is minimal or no overlap between the sheets 202-205. The sheets 202-205 may be floated onto the wafer 200 by a fluid layer. The carrier wafer 200 may be made from Si, having an SiO₂ coating on the top.

A sensor 206 (e.g., visible light imager, electron imager, infrared imager, ultraviolet imager, atomic force imager, photoluminescent imager, etc.) and processor 208 map the location of the sheets 202-205 relative to the wafer 200. The carrier wafer 200 will later be separated along the gridlines 202 a, e.g., using a dicing tool such as scriber/cleaver, mechanical saw, laser saw, etcher/grinder, etc. The gridlines 202 a may be pre-etched or otherwise marked on the wafer 202, or may be virtual, e.g., calculated by the processor 208 based on a predetermined singulation scheme. Note that other shapes besides a rectangular grid may be used to divide the carrier wafer 200 and sheets 202-205, e.g., hexagonal grid, diamond grid, etc. Further, the grid need not be uniform, e.g., may have different regions with different sized grids.

The wafer 202 and sheets 202-205 will be separated together, as indicated by the dashed lines over sheet 205. This will result in individual chiplet carriers 205 a-205 c, each having a rectangular base formed of a chiplet 205 aa, 205 ba, 205 ca (which is a portion of the carrier wafer 200) that is partially or fully covered by thin film material 205 ab, 205 bb, and 205 cb. The size of individual chiplets carriers 205 a-205 c (e.g., average of edge dimensions A and B) may be on the order of micrometers to millimeters, although may be smaller or larger in some embodiments.

The characterization of the sheets by the camera 206 and processor 208 can uniquely identify each of the chiplet carriers 205 a-205 c that are formed from this and other parts of the carrier wafer 200 and sheets 202-205. The processor 208 may give each chiplet carrier 205 a-205 c a unique identifier (ID) that can be used for subsequent operations. This unique identifier could be marked on the chiplet carriers 205 a-205 c, e.g., by laser engraving a barcode on a top or side of the carrier, or by standard photolithography and etching process.

As seen in FIG. 3 , chiplet carriers 300 may be transported to an assembly surface 302, e.g., via a fluid carrier 304. On the assembly surface 302, the chiplet carriers 300 are selected, sorted, oriented and arranged. When first moved onto the assembly surface 302, the chiplet carriers are generally disordered, e.g., randomly arranged. The assembly surface 302 is part of a micro assembler 301 that utilizes actuators 303, e.g., electrodes, piezo actuators, magnets, etc., that cause the chiplet carriers 300 to be moved from a disordered (e.g., random) location and orientation at region 306 to ordered locations and orientations at region 308.

The actuators 303 (which may be located elsewhere besides the assembly surface 302) may use any combination of electrostatic forces, magnetic forces, acoustics waves, physical forces, fluidic actuation, etc., to move and orient the chiplet carriers 300 to the ordered locations. As indicated by processor 314 and sensor 316, the micro assembler 301 can automatically sense orientations of the chiplet carriers 300 and cause the actuators to gradually move the chiplet carriers 300 across the assembly surface 302 to the desired locations and orientations, e.g., as previously determined by processor 208 in FIG. 2 . A description of various micro assembler embodiments can be found in U.S. Patent Publication US2002/0032US01 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/221,803, filed Dec. 17, 2018, which are both hereby incorporated by reference.

The ordered locations in this example are a grid pattern that matches that of mildly adhesive protrusions 312 of a stamping head 310. As seen in FIG. 4 , the stamping head 310 has picked up one or more stacks of thin film materials, which are then deposited individually or together to form stacks 402 on a target device wafer 404. Each of the stacks 402 may have differing orientations and/or compositions, as seen by close up views of stacks 402 a-c.

In FIG. 5 , a diagram illustrates a sequence for forming a device using the chiplet carriers according to an example embodiment. A plurality of chiplet carriers 500 are each formed of a thin film material 502 on a chiplet 504. The chiplet carriers 500 were previously arranged on an assembly surface 506, e.g., as shown in FIG. 3 . In this embodiment and as shown in block 510, a transfer arm 508 has a tacky surface that picks up the chiplet carriers 500 from the assembly surface 506. As seen in block 512, the chiplet carriers 500 have been brought into contact with a stamp head 514 that include hemispherical protrusions 516. Previously deposited portions of thin film material 518 are already assembled on the protrusions 518, and the transfer arm 508 presses the currently deposited thin film material 502 onto the previously deposited portions of thin film material 518. The protrusions 516 may be made of a viscoelastic, silicon-based, organic polymer such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS).

Generally, the steps shown in block 510 and 512 can be repeated for a number of steps. In one arrangement, when the newly added material 502 is moved over the protrusions 516, the ambient temperature may be elevated, e.g., around 45° C. After the material 502 contacts the protrusions 516 (or any intervening material 518), the temperature is rapidly cooled, e.g., to around 39° C. After cooling, the stamp head 514 will be separated from transfer arm using a smooth, swift motion.

As seen in block 520, the thin film material stacks 502, 518 are built on the array of protrusions 516. At this stage, the stacks 502, 518 are ready to be pressed into a target substrate 522 (e.g., intermediate or final substrate). Before being pressed together, stacks 502, 518 and substrate 522 are the previous temperature from block 512, e.g., around 39° C. As seen in block 524, the stacks 502, 518 are pressed together with the target substrate 522. After the pressing together, the ambient temperature is increased, e.g., to around 135° C., to facilitate separating the stacks 502, 518 from the protrusions 516. As seen in block 526, the stamp head 514 is slowly removed, leaving the material stacks 502, 518 behind on the target substrate 522. The target substrate can then be further processed, e.g., depositing additional material layers, etching 502, 518 the stacks and additional materials, etc.

In FIG. 6 , a diagram illustrates a sequence for forming a device using the chiplet carriers according to an example embodiment. A plurality of chiplet carriers 600 are formed on an assembly surface 606. Each chiplet carrier 600 includes a thin film material 602 on a chiplet 604. In this embodiment, a stamp head 614 that includes hemispherical protrusions 616 is brought into contact with the chiplet carriers 600 removing the chiplet carriers 600 from the assembly surface. As seen in block 612, the chiplets 604 are brought into contact with a tacky removal substrate 608 that facilitates removing the chiplets 604 from the thin film material 602, the latter remaining on the stamp head 614. The operations in block 612 may be performed at a somewhat low temperature, e.g., about 39° C., to help ensure the thin film material portions 602 do not separate from the protrusions 616.

The operations in blocks 610 and 612 can be repeated multiple times, resulting in a stack of thin film materials 602, 618 on the stamp head 614 as seen in block 620. At block 620 the stacks 602, 618 are ready to be pressed into a target substrate 622 (e.g., intermediate or final substrate). Before being pressed together, stacks 602, 618 and substrates 614, 622 may be at the previous temperature from block 612, e.g., 39° C. As seen in block 624, the stacks 602, 618 are pressed together with the target substrate 622. After the pressing together, the ambient temperature is increased, e.g., to 136° C., to facilitate separating the stacks 602, 618 from the protrusions 616. As seen in block 626, the stamp head 614 is slowly removed, leaving the material stacks 602, 618 behind on the target substrate 622. The target substrate can then be further processed, e.g., depositing additional material layers, etching 602, 618 the stacks and additional materials, etc.

The systems and methods above can facilitate high-throughput assembly of devices that utilize thin film materials. Large numbers (e.g., on the order of 1000's) of stacks/device can be assembled together. High throughput enables repeatable and consistent manufacturing. The methods and systems described herein can be used with other parallel assembly techniques, e.g., robotic pick and place, lithography, etc. Some processes may be modified, e.g., to use robotic pick-and-place machines on some aspects of the assembly. Using chiplet as a thin film material handler allows the specialized, sensitive 2-D process be detached from the other conventional chip assembly processes. The 2-D assembly processes described herein can be generalized beyond thin film material assembly. For example, small objects such as quantum dots, quantum wires, nano crystals, etc., can be carried with sacrificial chiplets and parallel-assembled in a similar manner as thin film materials.

In FIG. 7 , a flowchart shows a method according to an example embodiment. The method involves attaching 700 sheets of thin film material to a carrier wafer. The carrier wafer and the attached sheets of thin film material are separated 701 to form chiplet carriers. Each chiplet carrier includes a portion of the sheets of thin film material attached to a portion of the carrier wafer. The chiplet carriers are arranged 702 on an assembly surface from a disordered pattern to a predetermined pattern.

Operations 703-706 are an example of transferring the portions of the thin film material from the chiplet carriers in parallel to a target substrate. A stamp is pressed 703 against the chiplet carriers on the assembly surface. The stamp has an array of mildly adhesive protrusions in the predetermined pattern so that each of the protrusion contacts the portion of thin film material. The stamp is separated 704 from the chiplet carriers so that the portions of the thin film material are removed from the chiplets by the protrusions. As indicated by block 706, steps 703-704 can be optionally repeated for multiple layers of thin film material. After all layers are on the stamp, the stamp is pressed 705 onto a target substrate such that the thin film material is deposited on the target substrate.

Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing feature sizes, amounts, and physical properties used in the specification and claims are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term “about.” Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth in the foregoing specification and attached claims are approximations that can vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by those skilled in the art utilizing the teachings disclosed herein. The use of numerical ranges by endpoints includes all numbers within that range (e.g. 1 to 5 includes 1, 1.5, 2, 2.75, 3, 3.80, 4, and 5) and any range within that range.

The foregoing description of the example embodiments has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. Any or all features of the disclosed embodiments can be applied individually or in any combination are not meant to be limiting, but purely illustrative. It is intended that the scope of the invention be limited not with this detailed description, but rather determined by the claims appended hereto. 

The invention claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: a separation tool that separates a carrier wafer to form a plurality of chiplet carriers, the carrier wafer having sheets of thin film material attached thereto before the separation of the carrier wafer such that each chiplet carrier has a portion of the sheets of the thin film material attached; a sensor and processor that determine an orientation of the portions of the sheets of the thin film material relative to the chiplets to determine a mapping therebetween; a fluid carrier or mechanical sonication that places the chiplet carriers on an assembly surface in a disordered pattern; a micro assembler that arranges the chiplet carriers from the disordered pattern to a predetermined pattern based on the mapping; and a carrier that transfers the portions of the thin film material from the chiplet carriers to a target substrate.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor assigns a unique identifier to each of the chiplet carriers to be used in arranging the chiplet carriers from the disordered pattern to the predetermined pattern.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the system marks the unique identifier on each chiplet carrier.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the thin film material comprises a van der Waals material.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the van der Waals material comprises graphene.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the carrier wafer comprises Si with an SiO₂ coating on top.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the thin film material is less than a micrometer thick.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the micro assembler uses electrostatic forces to arrange the chiplet carriers.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the micro assembler arranges the chiplet carriers into desired locations and orientations.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the carrier comprises: a transfer arm comprising a tacky surface that picks up the chiplet carriers from the assembly surface; and a stamp head with protrusions that receive the portions of the thin film material from the chiplet carriers, the stamp head transferring the portions of the thin film material to the target substrate.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the protrusions comprise a viscoelastic, silicon-based, organic polymer, and wherein receiving the portions of the thin film material from the chiplet carriers comprises: elevating an ambient temperature before contacting the portions of the thin film material to the protrusions; lowering the ambient temperature after the portions of the thin film material contact the protrusions; and separating the stamp head from the transfer arm after lowering the ambient temperature.
 12. The system of claim 10, wherein the transfer arm picks up additional chiplet carriers from the assembly surface and the stamp head receives additional portions of the thin film material from the additional chiplet carriers, the additional portions of the thin film material being stacked on the thin film material that was previously deposited to form a stack of the thin film material, wherein the stamp head transfers the stack of the thin film material to the target substrate.
 13. The system of claim 1, wherein the carrier comprises: a stamp head with protrusions that that are brought into contact with the chiplet carriers to remove the chiplet carriers from the assembly surface; and a tacky removal substrate that removes the chiplet carriers from the thin film material after the chiplet carriers are brought into contact with the tacky removal substrate by the stamp head, the thin film material remaining on the stamp head after the removal from the chiplet carriers.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the protrusions comprise a viscoelastic, silicon-based, organic polymer, and wherein the removal of the chiplet carriers from the thin film material occurs at a low ambient temperature about 39° C.
 15. The system of claim 13, wherein the stamp head picks up additional chiplet carriers from the assembly surface and removes additional portions of the thin film material from the additional chiplet carriers, the additional portions of the thin film material being stacked on the thin film material that was previously remaining on the stamp head, wherein the stamp head transfers the stack of the thin film material to the target substrate. 